Lawyer Úna Butler has been appointed as a member of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

Formerly director of legal services and general counsel at the CCPC, since 2014 Butler has been responsible for establishing its legal services division and overseeing legal advice on all aspects of the CCPC’s work.

The TCD graduate holds a Masters in European Law from the College of Europe in Bruges, and a postgraduate diploma in economics for competition law from King’s College London. 

Butler (small picture) previously worked as a legal advisor in the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) and as a lawyer in private practice in Dublin, specialising in EU, competition and regulatory law.

She was called to the Bar in 2003 with a Barrister-at-Law degree from the King’s Inns.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that the appointment was part of a focus on reforming competition and consumer laws and strengthening the enforcement of those laws.

Public interest

“It’s in the public interest to give customers better competition and more choice, which will ultimately lead to better-quality goods. It’ll also help reduce cost and is part of what we’re doing to help people with the cost of living.

“The CCPC is central to these plans, and we are making sure the organisation has real teeth through the Competition (Amendment) Bill and the Consumer Rights Bill, giving the regulator the power to apply administrative sanctions for breaches of competition law, for example.”

He added that the commission would undergo major transformation under the leadership of Jeremy Godfrey.

Robert Troy (Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation) said that he expected the CCPC to continue to respond to the evolving consumer landscape and the important legislative changes that were coming.